Chapter 42: Tens of Thousands of Times the Profit
Su Xiao sprinted along the street. The buildings within Dead Silence City were numerous. Aside from the sound of the wind, the streets were very quiet. The sky was a hazy gray, and all the buildings were dominated by black and gray tones, seemingly the result of erosion by some kind of energy.
After rushing out about two to three hundred meters, Su Xiao stopped. At the corner ahead on the street, three massive figures were slowly approaching. They were three Gate Guards: Tree Erosion.
Su Xiao was currently standing in the middle of the street, flanked by dense rows of buildings. On his left was a church-like structure, its inverted cross giving off an ominous feeling. The windows were pitch black, as if something was stirring inside.
As for the right side, it was a dilapidated wooden hut, its door half broken, the windows covered with black sackcloth.
Without a second thought, Su Xiao dashed towards the wooden hut, pushed open the door, and slipped inside.
Thump, thump, thump...
The footsteps of the Tree Erosion grew closer. Su Xiao leaned against the wall of the hut, with Veronica, who was in the process of pulling up her pants and only wearing her underwear, tucked under his arm. Nearby, Amu stood rigidly against the wooden wall, while Bubu Wang was outside observing the situation. Being able to blend into the environment truly allowed one to do whatever they wanted.
A rustling sound came from Veronica as she finished pulling up her pants. She felt completely drained. They had only just entered Dead Silence City, and it was already this thrilling and dangerous.
The strong within Dead Silence City were as common as dogs. Based on Su Xiao's assessment of his own strength, he wasn't afraid of facing ordinary residents of Dead Silence City. As for facing Tree Erosion, or slightly stronger residents, as long as he was cautious, it would be fine.
But when it came to facing those mini-bosses or major bosses, it was better to retreat first. If he absolutely couldn't avoid them, he would have to fight to the death.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
A dry cough came from the inner part of the wooden hut. Su Xiao's hand rested on his sword hilt.
"Living one, do you have any wine?"
A hoarse and aged voice came through. It was an old man sitting against the innermost wall of the hut. His gray cloth clothes were tattered, one leg was bent, and the other was stretched out naturally in front of him.
This old man had sparse hair, with only a few strands left. His skin wasn't black-gray, but a withered yellow, a significant difference from the residents of Dead Silence City. The old man's long, untrimmed nails were dirty. A sheathed, worn longsword was slanted across his shoulder; the sword had no handguard.
"Yes."
Su Xiao took a bottle of aged wine from his storage space and tossed it to the old man.
The wine bottle spun several times in the air before landing in the old man's hands.
"Leave. This place does not belong to the living."
The old man's voice was hoarse. Just then, a rumbling sound came from outside the wooden hut. A little girl with gray-black skin and gray-white pupils stood outside the door, blood still visible on her hands.
With a snap, the old man inside the hut gripped his sword sheath. This simple action made the little girl outside take a few steps back.
"Baqi, nono guwayi (Living person, not belonging here)."
The little girl spoke, her black hair writhing as if alive.
"Scram."
The old man raised his head, revealing a pair of murky but exceptionally sharp eyes.
"Roar!"
The little girl outside let out a low growl. After hesitating for a moment, she headed towards the hut Su Xiao had been in earlier. As she passed by on the street, her black hair coiled around a Tree Erosion. The seven-meter-tall Tree Erosion could only let out terrified roars, completely powerless, as it was dragged into the hut by the little girl. Afterwards, the sound of gnawing flesh was heard.
After the little girl left, the old man closed his eyes again. He pulled the cork from the wine bottle and took a large gulp.
Clearly, the little girl belonged to the highly aggressive type of Dead Silence City resident. This old man, on the other hand, was relatively neutral. Not only did he not drive Su Xiao out of the hut, but he also warned Su Xiao to leave Dead Silence City.
"Are you... a Holy Cultivator?"
Su Xiao sensed that this old man still had a trace of human aura, but it was very faint. If he completely transformed into a resident of Dead Silence City, he would be at least on the level of Prisoner Hera.
As for the little girl, she was much weaker than the complete Hera, at least that was Su Xiao's feeling. However, that little girl was very strange. Based on what the old divine stick had said earlier, that little girl should be a very special existence. Otherwise, the old divine stick would have definitely teamed up with Su Xiao to eliminate her.
"Holy Cultivator... It seems you people are from this world, not from over there. Is the Foster family still on the continent?"
The old Holy Cultivator spoke with his head down. If one looked closely, they would notice that some kind of white roots connected his back to the wooden wall, fusing them together.
"Foster family?"
Su Xiao looked at Veronica. Veronica's face was full of shock, and she said in a very low voice: "Foster is an ancient family from about five hundred years ago, even before the era of the Black King. It has already perished."
Hearing Veronica's words, Su Xiao roughly understood the situation.
"Foster is still around, very prosperous."
Su Xiao certainly wouldn't say that the Foster family had already perished. If he angered this old man, he might not be able to leave alive.
"Is that so? Good. You answered one of my questions, so I will answer one of yours in return."
The old Holy Cultivator casually tossed aside the empty wine bottle, letting his hands hang naturally.
"Where is the Birth Hall?"
Su Xiao hadn't forgotten the hidden quest. He had risked entering this place not out of curiosity, but to reap the benefits.
"The Birth Hall... Let me think."
The old Holy Cultivator was silent for about ten seconds before speaking: "I've forgotten. You all go. Walk in that direction, and you can leave Dead Silence City. The limit you seek is not here."
The old Holy Cultivator pointed in the south direction, then lowered his head and fell silent. That trace of human aura also faded away.
"What's that thing around your neck? What can I trade for it?"
Su Xiao didn't care about what the old Holy Cultivator had just said. Instead, he looked at an old, worn wooden plaque hanging around the other's neck.
"This? A fellow transcendent... no, those things have no meaning anymore. Two bottles of wine will do."
The old Holy Cultivator didn't look up. He pulled the wooden plaque from his neck and tossed it to Su Xiao.
Su Xiao caught the wooden plaque, and a notification from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[You have obtained Divine Wood.]
[Divine Wood]
Origin: Black Throne Continent
Quality: Gold ~ Legendary
Type: Item/Material/???
Effect: While wearing this wooden plaque, consume 10 Health Points per second. Melee combat attacks will be imbued with Wood Attribute (Sprouting, Fission, Proliferation). After the effect lasts for 5 minutes, this item will lose its activity.
Rating: 360 ~ 530 points
Description: A stained wooden plaque, seemingly recording something.
Selling Price: No ownership rights currently, cannot be sold.
...
Su Xiao took two bottles of wine from his storage space and placed them on the ground. The bottles rolled to the feet of the old Holy Cultivator.
"Those who explore the dead silence will inevitably be devoured by it, just like us. We were all foolish living beings once."
After saying this, the old Holy Cultivator fell silent as if asleep, but he didn't drive Su Xiao out of the wooden hut.
Su Xiao observed the street outside through the gaps in the wooden planks. The street was now empty. The old divine stick's fate was unknown.
After this initial exploration, Su Xiao found that Dead Silence City was even more dangerous than he had imagined. This damned place might require over a dozen powerful Sixth Rank Contractors to have the qualifications to explore it. His current strength was in the upper-middle of the Fifth Rank.
Although it was dangerous, it was more interesting than he had imagined. It wasn't completely bizarre and unreasonable, nor were all the residents killing on sight.
Based on what Su Xiao knew now, the residents here could be divided into three types. The first type was like the Tree Erosion, with low intelligence, only wandering around Dead Silence City on fixed routes.
The second type was the little girl with long black hair. This brat was clearly a mini-boss. She had a very strong sense of territory and aggression, and would even toy with her enemies. For example, her earlier action of knocking on the wooden cabinet was clearly meant to tease Su Xiao and his group. But she hadn't expected Su Xiao and the others to be so decisive. The old divine stick held the rear, while Su Xiao led the others away without hesitation.
As for the third type, this was even more interesting. It was the type like the old Holy Cultivator. Any one of them was at the elite boss level, the kind that a mini-boss like the black-haired little girl could only avoid.
Although they were dangerous, they were neutral. Moreover, Su Xiao could make extremely cheap trades with them, gaining benefits tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of times greater. After all, these people probably couldn't leave Dead Silence City. A transcendent wooden plaque inscribed with secrets was truly worth less to them than two bottles of wine, which could make them feel like humans again, feel alive, for a short time.
And within Dead Silence City, there were at least tens of thousands, or even more, of these buildings of varying sizes.